Actor Asher Keddie's beau Vincent Fantauzzo paints Archibald portrait

AFTER passing up many requests to sit for the Archibald Prize, acting golden girl Asher Keddie was finally made an offer she couldn't refuse.

Her new beau, Melbourne artist Vincent Fantauzzo, has captured the private side of the Offspring and Paper Giants star in a stunning 3m portrait.

The end result, which Keddie saw for the first time this week, took her breath away.

"It's beautiful," she said. "There's a lot of love and trust in my eyes, and stillness, and it makes me feel happy to look at it.

"It's a celebration for us, in a way. There's a lot of loveliness in our lives at the moment and this was something we could enjoy doing together and collaborating on."

Fantauzzo and Keddie met through mutual friends about a year ago and have been "stuck like glue" ever since.

Archibald entries close on Friday and among the South Australian submissions are Riverton artist Robert Hannaford and Andrew Slattery, who has entered his portrait of Australian actor John Jarratt as his Wolf Creek character Mick Taylor.

Hannaford has entered with a portrait of historian Bill Gammage, who won the Australian history prize in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards last year with his book The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia.

Hannaford has featured in the Archibald finalists exhibitions 21 times, winning the People's Choice on three occasions.

Finalists for Australia's most prestigious art prize, valued at $75,000, will be announced next Thursday and the winner will be revealed on March 22.